


I'm Here

by TheUnicornAstronaut



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Ice Cream Fixes Everything, Nightmare, PTSD, White Rose Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2018-06-12
Packaged: 2019-05-21 13:48:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14916509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheUnicornAstronaut/pseuds/TheUnicornAstronaut
Summary: Ruby has a nightmare that feels real, and Weiss makes sure that she's in the right reality.Whiterose Week Day 3: Struggle





	I'm Here

**Author's Note:**

> So, this got WAY darker than I intended, so be warned. Besides that I hope you enjoy.

Salem sneered down at her, her eyes holding a sick, satisfied gleam in the dim light. Ruby couldn’t move, her arms pulled above her head and tied by a Seeker her legs in similar shape. Her heart pounded in her chest, fear coursing through her veins. The instinct to flee was so great she could only cower in fear as Salem raised one of her hands. 

“Foolish child,” she said. She flinched when her nails ghosted over her cheek. “Did you think your miniscule control over the silver eyes would save them?” 

“I have saved them!” Ruby managed to shout. She couldn’t see past Salem or anything else, but deep down she knew they were safe, they were  _ alive. _

To her rapidly growing horror, Salem only laughed. “ _ Saved them? _ You left them to die. They’re all dead because of you, Little Rose.” The nickname fills her with dread, and she begins to struggle against her bonds. 

“No!” she yells. “No, we worked together, helped each other. You’re wrong.”

“Am I?” Salem’s form morphs and separates into six distinct shapes. Before her eyes her friends appear, each mutilated and covered in blood. Ruby’s thrashing, straining against the Seeker. 

_ This isn’t real, this isn’t real _ , Ruby repeats in her head.  _ She’s tricking you, they’re safe. _

“I knew you were an optimist, but you must face reality.” Salem’s voice comes from all around her, reverberating through her body. 

Ruby screams, unable to look away from her family. Her eyes lock onto Weiss’ back, her entire torso covered in blood and her hair chopped off at her shoulders. As she tries to move her arms in a plea to be freed, Salem’s sick chuckle fills her ears.

“Struggle, child, for it will be the last thing you do. You will know that Ozpin failed you, and you failed them.” 

Slowly, they rise. Jaune is the first on his feet, and when Ruby’s eyes meet his the fear she feels is tangible. Bright, red orbs of light have replaced Jaune’s comforting baby blue, and the maliciousness Ruby senses with her aura screams danger. Unable to move, she watches Blake and Nora grab their weapons while Weiss and Ren help each other up. Jaune and Yang stumble towards her, crimson eyes promising her death. 

“Yang,” Ruby’s throat closes in the oncoming tears she doesn’t fight. She can’t focus on her sister’s face, all she sees is the neverending pool of blood she leaves with every step. Nora and Blake advance to her left while Ren is a few steps behind Jaune with Yang to her right. 

“Ruby,” she closes her eyes tightly.

_ Not this _ , she begs silently.  _ Anything but this _ . 

“Ruby,” the voice calls out again, and her eyes are forced open. 

Directly in front of her is Weiss. At least what is in front of her looks like her partner. Her skin is a ghostly white, and dark veins spread out from her black, soulless eyes. Her nightmare rapidly coming true, Ruby resumes her struggles, crying and pleading. She can’t blink or speak anymore, so she watches Weiss lift up a bloody, broken arm to caress her cheek. It’s different than any of the other times she’s touched her simply because her nails are long and black, and she feels the hunger coming from her eyes. 

Weiss doesn’t say anything else, resorting to cup Ruby’s cheek with her hand. There is no warmth to Weiss’ hand, even her blood is chilled like the Atlesian wind. Feeling the rest of her friends nearing she goes limp. The spark of hope and kindness in her heart flickers and dies out. 

Weiss’ fingers dig into her cheek, her face twisted in pleasure. Gambol Shroud comes out through Ruby’s stomach and Jaune’s sword is thrust into her chest. Whatever screams might’ve left her throat are cut off as Weiss digs her fingers into her throat. Powerless, Ruby lets it happen. Knowing her friends are gone and are being used as puppets for Salem’s pleasure, she loses the will to fight. 

Hands roughly shake her shoulders, and Ruby gaspes. Her eyes open - when had they closed? - and bright blue eyes filled with concern meet her own. Ruby’s breathing is erratic and her entire body is covered in sweat. 

“Ruby,” Weiss breathes, “come back to me. It’s over, it wasn’t real.” She brushes the back of her hand against Ruby’s cheek. This time it’s warm and comforting, and she leans into the contact. She slowly realizes that she’s laying on a bed. Her arms are clutching the bedsheets by her sides and her legs are spread wide on the mattress. 

“Nightmare,” she wheezes letting her head fall onto a pillow. Her muscles relax, she hadn’t even noticed she was so tense.

“Yes, just a nightmare,” Weiss repeats, now rubbing her shoulders. “It wasn’t real.” 

Doubt fills her chest. That’s what she thought in the dream, and her worst fears were realized. She couldn’t trust this Weiss. “How do I know?” She sees something like hurt flicker in Weiss’ eyes. 

“I love you,” she said, “I love you more than anything in Remnant. Whatever you saw wasn’t real, just a fabrication of the trauma you went through. Know that this is real, Ruby. Please.” As she spoke Weiss brought her hands back to her body and her voice took a pleading tone. 

“Does this happen every time?” Ruby asked. All of this seemed very familiar, but the nightmare was too fresh in her mind, too raw and all-consuming to think of much else. Her breathing was evening out, but was still somewhat desperate. She was confused and still a little afraid. 

Weiss closed her eyes and sighed softly. “Yes, unfortunately it does. Can you sit up?” She spread her arms out towards her, and Ruby realized that her partner was sitting on her hips. 

“Yeah,” she said, rising onto her elbows slowly. Her arms were weak even though she knew she was about as strong as Yang, and her strength failed her instantly. Before she could fall all the way, Weiss was there, quickly but softly pulling her into an embrace. 

Like a switch had been flipped Ruby’s eyes were blurry and she wrapped her arms around Weiss without any hesitation. She borrowed her face into her partner’s neck and sobbed loudly. 

“I’m sorry,” she whimpered. “I’m so, so sorry.” She wasn’t completely sure what she was apologising for, but Weiss gently shushed her and rubbed her back in comforting circles. 

“I know you are,” Weiss said. “Let it all out, sweetheart.” So Ruby did. She didn’t try to be quiet, she knew they were alone. Her chest heaved with every breath she took, sometimes hitching in the middle of a sob. Her hold on Weiss must’ve been crushing, but she took it like a champ, gently smoothing her hair with one hand while the other made circles on her back. The movements slowly and gradually calmed her down. 

They stayed like that for a long time. Even after her tears stopped falling and her breath stopped heaving, Weiss kept both hands in motion. Close and intimate. It felt nice. Ruby swallowed, hoping to clear her airway enough to talk properly.

“Thanks,” she said. It was weak, and she accompanied the statement with a light squeeze. In response Weiss kissed the top of her head. 

“Anytime. Are you feeling a little better?” She pulled away - too soon for Ruby’s taste - to look at her. 

Soft, warm hands wiped the remaining tears on her cheeks. “Not one hundred percent, but you helped a lot.” Ruby’s heart stuttered when Weiss smiled, actually skipping a few beats when she kissed her forehead.

“Alright, then how about some ice cream and a movie?” Weiss’ hand strayed to run along her arm, the gentle brush of skin cementing her to this reality.

“That would be great actually,” she nodded. Weiss removed herself from her grip, and Ruby immediately missed the warmth she brought. She stayed where she was, dazed, until Weiss touched her shoulder. 

“Need a lift?” 

“Yeah.” 

Working together she was lifted into her partner’s arms. Just like her arms, Ruby’s legs failed to support her weight, but Weiss was right there. Her presence was as comforting as it was grounding, her nightmare fading away slowly. A few moments passed, Weiss supporting Ruby while she regained strength in her legs. 

“Alright,” she said and backed away slowly. Her partner’s hand had a firm grip on her own, her other hand poised in case Ruby faltered. She didn’t as they made their way towards the stairs. 

Ruby was thankful that Weiss didn’t ask about it, but she supposed that by now she’d already have an idea of what happened. She tended to talk in her sleep during the worst of it, and even if it was incoherent nonsense Weiss somehow always knew. 

By the time they reached the stairs she was walking normally, but Weiss didn’t let go of her hand. If she was being honest Ruby didn’t want her to, the warmth from their connected hands negating the cold sweat that still clung to her skin. 

“The usual?” Weiss broke the silence. Her voice was quiet and soft, further soothing Ruby’s frayed nerves. 

“Yeah. That’d be nice,” Ruby said. Mind focused on walking and anticipating some ice cream, she didn’t notice when Weiss sat her on the couch and left her side. Normally she could think a million different things at the same time and keep track of them all, but right now all she could do was stare at the tile floor. It was tan in color thanks to the moonlight filtering through the patio door. 

At a sudden patting on her shoulder, Ruby looked up to see Weiss with a bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. She gave a small smile in thanks as it was handed to her, bringing the bowl to her chest. It was bitingly cold against her flushed skin. With it being so quiet in the house Ruby could hear when her partner sucked in a breath and hissed through her teeth.

“Weiss?” her head snapped up. The world blurred for a moment, but when her vision cleared she saw Weiss holding her side. 

“I’m okay,” Weiss bit out, “just some phantom pain.” She stood in the middle of their kitchen rubbing her side, and all Ruby could do was watch. It was like she was frozen, like many times before when her body refused to act in time, always one second too late. She was cursed, her semblance was speed, yet she always failed to be fast enough to help those she cared about the most. Like the dream. 

“Hey.” Fingers brushed at her cheeks, Weiss’ face suddenly inches away from hers. “Don’t blame yourself. It wasn’t your fault.” A thumb gently caressed her jawline, bright blue eyes comforting and soft. She let herself lean into the contact. 

“It’s hard to believe that sometimes,” she admitted. 

“We all give it everything we have, but sometimes our best isn’t good enough. Learning from those experiences shape us into better people who can do more things,” Weiss reassured. “Out of all of us you’ve gone through the toughest things, and that’s what makes you strong. Believing in yourself makes us want to believe in us too.” 

“I can’t believe in myself, though,” Ruby stabbed her ice cream. “Too many people got hurt because of me, injuries that can’t be forgotten or fixed. I can’t say I’m sorry to them enough. For all that they’ve lost we’ve gained so little, and I feel horrible for it.” She glared at the bowl, fighting off tears. 

“I don’t like saying this to you, but you’re wrong, Ruby,” Weiss said. Looking up, Ruby saw fire in her eyes. “Being a Huntress comes with risks, many that could lead us to an early death. Doing the things we did… We’re all lucky to be alive right now, Ruby. We followed you and supported you because we knew that this is where we wanted to be, this was the place we were needed. If any of us got hurt, it was because we put ourselves in harm’s way. Not you. None of us ever blamed or resented you. I love you, so, so much, and I know all of our friends would say the same.” She kissed Ruby’s forehead and backed away. 

“Everything’s okay now. We don’t have to worry about all that stuff now,” Weiss walked back to the counter, reaching on her tiptoes to reach another bowl. “What movie do you want to watch?”

Floored, Ruby watched in silence as her partner scooped some ice cream into her bowl. To say that Ruby struggled with what happened with Salem would be an understatement. Paralyzing guilt and shame blinded her on days she was supposed to be happy. Birthdays and anniversaries went from joyful celebrations to days filled with self hate and isolation. 

Without any hesitation Weiss tried her best to help, but her wife’s support could only go so far. Her current therapist was helpful in guiding her, and in theory she should be getting better, but some days felt like now: hopeless, guilt-ridden, and completely, utterly helpless. It was pathetic in some way, she mused to herself, the great Ruby Rose that killed the greatest evil in Remnant shaken to her core by mere memories and nightmares. 

Battling her own demons in her head was difficult, but just having Weiss nearby alleviated some of the growing pressure in her mind. Staring at her partner, Ruby remembered what she was supposed to be doing. A movie. One immediately came to mind.

“How about Tangled?” 

Weiss smirked. “Of course, whatever you want.” Ruby’s brow furrowed, Weiss knew what she was going to say before she even said it! She watched Weiss rinse off the scooper and put the ice cream bucket back into the freezer. 

“Ready?” Ruby asked, flipping the TV on. 

“Always,” Weiss responded, sitting on the couch and kissing her. “And this time try not to get ice cream everywhere.” They moved around on the couch until they were as close as they could get without spilling their ice cream. 

“It wasn’t my fault you distracted me!” Ruby cried. 

“Hush,” Weiss chastised her, stealing the remote and quickly selecting Tangled, “it’s too early for shouting.” Ruby leaned to the side to plant a kiss on her cheek in apology. 

“Sorry,” she said, “still a little jumpy.”

“It’s okay,” Weiss said, settling against the couch as the opening scene played. Leaning lightly against her, Ruby idly stirred her ice cream. 

“Thanks,” she whispered, “for everything.”

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like Ruby would adore Tangled and watch it whenever she was feeling bad. Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream is the best and nobody can convince me otherwise.


End file.
